Ushers

When people come to church, they experience not only the service, but the people associated with the church. We want the experience to be warm and welcoming. Our ushers are a part of that experience. They communicate a sense of belonging to the parishioners and are an important extension of the church and the Catholic family.

The Ministry of the Ushers of the Church of the Good Shepherd includes the responsibilities of:

welcoming the assembly at Masses, assisting in the seating of the assembly, especially for those parishioners with special needs

taking up the collection

organizing the communion procession

distributing the bulletin at the end of mass

other duties as deemed necessary by the celebrant, liturgy team, or any parish group who needs the assistance of this group.

How Can I Be an Usher? Qualifications include:

Registered parishioner of the Church of the Good Shepherd

Mature demeanor with a willingness to serve fellow parishioners

Male or female

Something to Think About

"The ushers of today have descended from a long line of people of God who have gone before them. Their ministry is deeply rooted in Scripture and tradition. The author of the Book of Chronicles, a book coming to us from the third century before Christ, pays particular attention to the part played by the "religious orders" of his time, not only the priests and Levites but the lesser orders of cantor and doorkeeper. These last, who may have numbered in the hundreds, loomed large in Jerusalem's population at the time and are the progenitors of our ushers today. They comprised the guild of gatekeepers, who had as their assigned task "the guarding of the threshold of the tent, just as their fathers had guarded the entrance of the encampment of the Lord. (1 Chr 9:19)."
— From the Ministry of Ushers by Gregory F. Smith as told by St. Paul the Apostle's Danny Amos